1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to helmet face guard mounts, and more particularly pertains to a shock absorbing mount for securing a face guard to a football helmet. The face guards or masks of football and other types of helmets are subject to a variety of types of applied forces. In football helmets in particular, the face guards are frequently subject to pulling and twisting forces applied by an opposing player grasping the face guard of a player's helmet. These forces can and have frequently resulted in head, and especially neck injuries to helmet wearers. The present invention is directed to a mounting device for securing a face guard to a helmet which minimizes, absorbs or dampens force transmission from the face guard to the helmet, and hence from the helmet to the wearer's head and neck.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of helmet face guard mounts are known in the prior art which utilize resilient straps or clips to secure a face guard to a helmet in such a manner to absorb or dampen some forces applied to the face guard. Some types of face guard mounts proposed in the prior art utilize a break-away construction adapted to at least partially release the face guard from the helmet when excessive forces are applied to the face guard.